Chapter Two
The doorbell rang and Lizzie quickly jumped to her feet, practically running towards the door to greet Miranda and her dad.
"HELLOOOOO BIRTHDAY GIRL!!" Lizzie grabbed Miranda before she even had a chance to walk in the door and enveloped her in a huge hug.
"Yeah yeah yeah, nice to see you too." Miranda wasn't exactly excited about her birthday, she was turning 16 but her family refused to let her have a party, but at least Lizzie would be there to celebrate.
"Ohh come on! We're going to have fun even without a party!" Miranda appeared unconvinced, "seriously!!" Lizzie was trying (and failing) to hide her excitement and she could tell that Miranda was confused about why Lizzie seemed to be jumping out of her skin to get out of the house and on the road.
Their fathers quickly said hello to each other and then Mr. Sanchez, Miranda, and Lizzie walked out to the car and headed back towards Miranda's house. After the hour long car ride, they made a quick stop at Miranda's house, and then decided to leave for the mall.
For a few hours Miranda and Lizzie walked around the mall, buying a CD here or a bracelet there, but not real big purchases. At about 4 Mrs. Sanchez came to pick them up. Lizzie's heart started violently pumping as they became closer and closer to the party. Miranda still oblivious and no where near as happy as Lizzie was.
"Liz, what is wrong with you?" Miranda asked her half annoyed half jokingly as Lizzie began to bounce her knees up and down.
"Nothing! I'm just excited that's all." Lizzie coaxed her legs to stop their movement and tried to wipe the large grin off her face. She'd worked hard to keep a secret from Miranda and she wasn't going to ruin it now.
"What could you possibly be excited for?" Lizzie could see Miranda trying to come up with a reason, and before she could come the correct answer Lizzie quickly interjected,
"Cause I'm here with my best friend, on her birthday, and we just went shopping! What's not to be excited about?" Miranda gave Lizzie her signature, ok you crazy person, look but dropped the subject as they pulled into her driveway.
Lizzie told her self to not run up to the door and instead waited for Miranda to go in front of her. As they rounded a corner into the family room everyone quickly jumped out screaming surprise and happy birthday as Miranda stepped backwards from the shock. Lizzie spotted Gordo almost immediately and ran up to him, giving him a quick hug.
"Hey you!" Lizzie took the moment to take Gordo in; he looked as though he hadn't thought much about what he was wearing but that was ok.
"Hello yourself" Gordo nudged Lizzie and she flashed him a smile before turning her attention to Miranda and her friends. She'd never seen most of them before and the nervous feeling she got when she met new people was slowly creeping into her gut. After what seemed like a thousand introductions Lizzie sat on the floor with Gordo and the only other person at the party she knew, Christina.
Lizzie and Christina had been friends since the move and she knew all about Lizzie's crush on Gordo. Whenever Gordo got up for food, she'd give Lizzie and reassuring smile and tell her that they seemed so happy together.
"Do you really think everything is going ok?" Lizzie pleaded with Christina when Gordo went to get a drink.
"Really Lizzie, you two look so good together and he can't keep his eyes off of you! Stop worrying and just have fun" Gordo returned and looked at them confused about why they'd suddenly stopped the conversation. Lizzie smiled reassuringly and that was enough to stop Gordo from thinking of anything but the girl in front of him.
Cake time arrived and everyone congregated in the dining room for the happy birthday song and dessert. Once everyone had been served they moved back into the family room but Gordo and Lizzie took their timing walking the long way together.
"Having fun?" Gordo nudged Lizzie and she stopped, turning to look him straight in the face.
"Sure, are you?" Gordo nodded in return and stepped a little closer to her making a small circle on her stomach with his finger.
"Of course you are, I'm here!" Lizzie teased and began to walk towards the party but Gordo grabbed her arm and pulled her back in front of him. She felt her stomach fall to the floor and the familiar anticipation of what was coming next. Even though he was single; getting near Gordo still felt so secretive, like if anyone saw them the world would fall apart.
"Give me a hug…" he got quite at the end of the sentenced and pulled her close to him before he finished. Lizzie rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes soaking in the only moment she'd have with him that day. They stood like that for a while and then returned to the family room together when Miranda began to open her presents. Christina smiled at Lizzie already knowing what had happened without asking.
"So where did you two go?" she whispered over to Lizzie suppressing and giggle.
"We were just… hugging" Lizzie smiled and looked over at Gordo who must have felt her stare and smiled at her. Presents quickly finished and people started to get picked up. Gordo was going to stay a little later since he'd driven himself and the trio wanted to spend some alone time together. After everyone was gone the three were about to sit down and watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which Miranda had just gotten.
The phone rang and Lizzie got nervous that it might be Gordo's mom telling him to go home right away. The phone was for Gordo and Lizzie stood up to try and catch the conversation.
"Ohh, crap, well uhm, ok wow thanks for calling" Gordo appeared nervous and Lizzie asked him with her eyes what was wrong. He put down the phone and looked and Lizzie and Miranda.
"That was your friend Jamie," he nodded and Miranda to tell them who he was speaking to, "she said the roads are getting really bad" Miranda and Lizzie looked at each other, then at Gordo, puzzled as to what they should do. Lizzie silently prayed that he'd stay, a movie meant more alone time with Gordo, him leaving ruined the whole night. Luckily Mrs. Sanchez had heard and popped her head into the kitchen:
"Gordo why don't you just spend the night!" Lizzie knew there was a reason why she loved Miranda's mom and looked at Gordo who was staring at her smiling.
"Alright, just let me call my mom and tell her what I'm doing" He gave Lizzie one last look and picked up the phone. Lizzie beamed, but held her excitement down, this night was going to be better than she ever expected.